People in the Gaza Strip are living in unprecedented, tragic conditions. They are exposed to hunger and disease, face indiscriminate bombing, and the demolition of homes on top of their residents, and sleep in shelter centers, on the streets, and in public buildings.
The Gazans are witnessing a shortage of everything, including medicine, treatment, food, and water. They are also lacking fuel, and have been living without electricity since the start of the aggression on October 7 forcing them to use primitive methods to secure their daily sustenance of bread and food using fire, wood, and anything that can be kindled to overcome the severe shortage of cooking gas.
Mustafa Ahmad left his house at dawn, hoping he could get a good place in front of the flour distribution point of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) where he had gone several times before but due to the severe overcrowding he returned home empty handed. Every time he goes there, he hopes he will be able to g
et flour to provide bread for his hungry children.
Ahmad was not alone. In an attempt to take advantage of every minute of the humanitarian truce, Gazans sought to obtain flour and other available foodstuffs from the market or through aid distribution points in an attempt to secure their needs for fear of resuming the war after the end of the truce, as movement would become difficult.
Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, all crossings in the Gaza Strip were closed, and no goods or fuel entered. Electricity was cut off completely, all food supplies were gone from the shops, and even locally made materials no longer existed after all factories stopped working due to the Israeli bombing or running out of fuel.
Ahmad said that obtaining flour is extremely difficult, especially since the only mill operating within the Gaza Strip, which is located in the city of Deir al-Balah, was bombed and stopped working until its owners were able to return it to partial operation and it began to produce quantities much sm
aller than its normal production.
He pointed out that when the Gaza Strip stopped producing flour, they were left with nothing but the flour provided by UNRWA, which was supposed to be distributed to bakeries. However, the lack of cooking gas caused all bakeries to stop working, and therefore people had to obtain flour and make their own bread at home using primitive methods such as firewood or charcoal.
Yasser Abu Halib said that given the high demand for the flour provided by UNRWA, which requires going to its centers and presenting an ID card, where quantities are distributed according to the number of family members, these centers have become very crowded, and people wait for two or three days and sleeping on the floor until they can get it.
He stressed that if people resort to stores to buy their needs, they will only find very few food items in addition to being very expensive.
The director of laboratories of the flour mills, Ihsan al-Farra, said the mills have worked since the beginning of the war
to provide flour to the people at the prices at which they were sold before the war and did not try to exploit the circumstances, but that with the closure of the crossings and their inability to import high-quality wheat, as well as the running out of fuel, most of the mills were forced to stop productions.
He said that even the mills that were able to operate were bombed by the Israeli artillery and stopped working completely before returning to work partially, which only meets a small part of the needs.
Source: Palestine news and Information Agency – WAFA